NY Sports Live

Three simple rules before you even think about what you want.

1. Establish your budget $500 or $5,000
2. Establish the space available including floor strength
3. Buy the largest sized aquarium you can afford

My own rule of thumb for any aquarium is 70 gallons. In various literature I’ve read over years that seems to be the starting point give or take 10 gallons. From experience larger tanks have yielded better over all results.

Bigger (more water volume) is always better.

A few things you need to understand.

Aquariums are work. Water is heavy.

If you don’t maintain your aquarium properly it will look like hell.

The reason I recommend the “larger the better” is that a greater volume of water reduces the rate and degree of of fluctuation of water chemistry and temperature.

Bear in mind that fish live in environments with millions of gallons of water that is fairly stable and what variations exist are natural and related to seasonal weather patterns that tend to be consistent over time.

Fish do not usually adapt well to rapid fluctuations of any kind unless they lived in an environment where such fluctuations were normal.

Some fish therefore are less susceptible than others.

Saltwater fish are particularly sensitive to rapid changes  - given that they live in huge bodies of water (the ocean) that do not fluctuate in chemistry or temperature except extremely gradually.

So as you can see my emphasis is on size and my recommendation is the larger the better within your budgetary and space constraints.

Once you have chosen the size of the tank – the next step will be to choose the tank inhabitants and decor.

I will discuss that in another article.

One of the fun things about an aquarium is decorating it.

The options are endless.

There are as many choices you can make as their are humans on earth!

So how then can we decide?

There are three top level choices to start with.

Natural, artificial and hybrid.

With natural you google the types of fish you have and look at pictures of the fish in their natural environment. (click images)

The same goes for artificial.

Hybrid is up to you where you would select a mixed combination of elements to decorate your aquarium.

The choices are many and self evident as far as size is concerned. Color is a matter of taste or if you go the natural route you duplicate the pictures you have seen of the biotope.

Biotope is a fancy word for natural habitat. It could be a stream or a coral reef.

One way to get ideas is to visit an aquarium shop  - the better shops have nicely decorated tanks as well as some if not all of the decorations you will need.

Don’t use wood or rocks picked up in nature. Spend a few dollars on aquarium ready substrate instead.

Keep in mind the following:

Sand or gravel is a pain in the ass. Detritus (fish shit) accumulates under the surface. This can be good or bad  - you’ll need to read up on biological filtration to understand why.

One thing I want to mention is that there are numerous excellent books on decorating an aquarium and a library of 2 or 3 books is a worthwhile investment.

Since this is your first aquarium I assume it is freshwater. In fact I recommend freshwater for starters. But if not the same reference materials are available for saltwater tanks as well.

I recommend going natural in appearance and although you can do live plants go artificial first time around – you won’t know the difference and live plants require a lot more expertise.

There is a LOT more I could write  - but the most important thing you could do is read a lot. The internet can get very confusing when you solicit opinions and ask questions. For every helpful aquarium owner there will be a different answer to the same question

Good luck.

I will purposely keep this simple.

Let me first however lay some brief groundwork for what I’m about to write.

Our perception of reality is what seems to be true and often IS true. Hot. cold, hunger, thirst, and pain are examples.

What we see and hear and taste and feel is often true but can be misinterpreted or translated in many different ways as when watching a magician perform or listening to music with eyes closed.

Something I mention often when I write is calculated neglect. I consider calculated neglect the most murderous weapon on earth and the silent killer of billions of humans over time. It is also one form of population control or depopulation policy.

Calculated neglect is a self-defining phrase that is commonly used by some humans to accomplish that which we often do not want to assume direct responsibility for … often calculated neglect is a thoughtless yet intentional process. It is not lethal but it is damaging.

Like ignoring or not acknowledging the hunger of children in a foreign land is not overtly murderous yet can lead to starvation and death.

Now we shall all quickly jump light years ahead to my two forecasts of the future.

In the first scenario (the decimation scenario) earths human population has been decimated and in the second scenario (science faction) humans are populating other planets. And in both scenarios the human over-population problem has been solved.

In the “decimation” scenario earth’s resources or nature have been conserved and replenished due to the reduction of human demand or the reduced human population to 10% of what it is today.

In the second scenario the same has been accomplished by both educating the masses, nature conservation and replenishment, self-control and exporting population growth off of the planet earth using science and technology.

Scenario one is something that can be accomplished sooner using biological weapons of mass destruction. i.e. a plague

Scenario two will likely never happen since scenario one is rapidly becoming the only viable solution.

There are many reasons for my two forecasts. One is that is still isn’t too late for scenario two.

However there are two seemingly totally unrelated policies in America that we can all relate too that will make my point.

The first is education.

The other is taxes.

Education is required to make progress using science or to make science fiction science faction. One of an endless number of the benefits of education would be population control.

Taxation or human value distribution is required to sustain economic systems that are imposed on the majority of human beings by a minority of human beings.

A by product of taxation is the tyranny of the minority combined with the dimunation of the majority.

To paraphrase … the minority is good (or so we are taught and told) and it’s rights must be preserved and the majority (all of us) is bad and it’s rights must be contained.

Now I will take an acute new direction with my second policy  … at least thought wise.

Inheritance taxes.

A seemingly totally unrelated, disjointed topic that for some reason garners a lot of attention by a minority of excessively wealthy Americans.

Beyond a certain level of wealth … what is the purpose of inheritance taxes. Today an enormous amount of wealth is allowed to escape to be inherited and hoarded by an astoundingly small number of human beings on earth.

And looking slightly further … what exactly are the benefits of excessive wealth? What is the cost of the benefits of genetics, stem cell research, DNA, organ transplants and artificial organs? Health Care? Education. Science.

Finally revisiting scenario number one or decimation to make my point self-evident … who would be the benefactors of the 10% of humans remaining on earth? The minority or the masses?

Who would inherit the earth?

I personally opt for scenario number two.

I read there are approximately 7 million jews in America … roughly the same as in Israel. I don’t know how accurate that is.

However whatever the percentages and numbers the positive impact Judaism has had on our nation has been vastly disproportionate to population.

We all have been touched by those americans among us who are jews …. as we have also been touched by those of Christian faith and all religions who practice what they preach.

The contrast today is vivid when you consider those who practice their religion rather than preach their religion religion.

The vast majority of humans worldwide are religious … because religion is about belief and not about Gods.

Without beliefs we cease to think and without thoughts we cease to be human.

I myself have found by close association that the jewish faith is very much family centric.

Jewish tradition is strong and consistent. A sense of family hood gracefully embraces non-believers like myself …

I am roman catholic yet my most religious experiences have been the result of my association with my jewish friends and their families.

Intelligence and education and family are valued highly by jews ….. something many individuals who preach could stand to learn and benefit from ….

The anti-semitism I have witnessed during my lifetime has not been overt …. but has been more like envy and resentment against those who are doing well or better …. anti-religious sentiment is much like anti-semitism.

Many foreign nationalities with different religious beliefs are the target of envy …. because immigrants value opportunity much more than we Americans … especially younger Americans who have lived protected lives encouraged by the indulgence of well meaning parents.

How many children do not properly value the sacrifices of their parents? and how many parents with money do not properly value their children?

Self-indulgence within wealthy families is common to the exclusion of children. Camps and private schools and expensive cars and colleges provide a reprieve for parents who wish to indulge themselves in their careers or on a golf course or tennis court.

The problem is that money cannot buy intelligence or hard work and perseverance.

Those in America with less who appreciate opportunity get less and less opportunity!

The deck is severely stacked in favor of the 1%.

This is by design.

Anti-semitism is a form of misdirected envy, because the 1% consists of many religions.

Those with money of any faith can be good or bad. But those who strive to be in the 1% are the worst of the lot.

When you take from those in need what you want and don’t need  - you are a murderer.

Children of the world are the primary victims. Helpless.

coralatlas